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Last month, Brazil and Angola signed a Technical Memorandum of Understanding for the Brazilian navy to support the development of Angola’s naval capabilities. Angola will purchase seven Brazilian Macae patrol ships, four of them built in Brazil with Angolan personnel support, and three others in Angola. Brazil will also train Angolan military personnel and build a shipyard in Angola. The agreement is another sign of Brazil and Angola’s strategic partnership, following their 2010 Defense Cooperation Agreement and more recent pacts on naval and aeronautic cooperation. But it also fits into Angola’s broader strategy to secure its maritime borders to safeguard its oil and fishing resources.

Angola’s military authorities first made improving the navy’s capabilities a priority in 2006, when Gen. Agostinho Nelumba, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, called for a complete naval modernization. Since then, they have followed up with several initiatives. In 2009, Angola announced plans for a National Maritime Surveillance System (SINAVIM) to monitor, control and protect territorial waters against illicit activities. As planned, SINAVIM will include a monitoring component—with short-, medium- and long-range radars, data-processing centers and four regional centers distributed along the Angolan coast—and an operational component comprised of naval and aerial assets, including unmanned aerial vehicles. Although the Angolan government has yet to set a target date for acquiring and installing the necessary systems, when it becomes fully operational, SINAVIM will also support the Maritime Organization of West and Central Africa (MOWCA), a regional partnership that promotes shipping and security, according to Minister of Transportation Augusto da Silva Tomas. ...

Angola's Naval Power Development Programme (PRONAVAL) took a significant step forward on 5 September, when Minister of Defence João Manuel Lourenço and his Brazilian counterpart, Celso Amorim, signed a technical memorandum of understanding (MoU) covering the construction of seven Macaé-class patrol boats.

The MoU specifies that four vessels will be built in Brazil, with the other three to be constructed in Angola. The two governments will now begin contractual negotiations to establish the technical configuration of the ships.

The project will be run by Brazil's state-owned Naval Projects Management Company (EMGEPRON), which will also oversee the building of a shipyard in Angola and the training of the associated industrial and naval personnel.

Already in service with the Brazilian Navy, the Macaé class is a local modification of French company CMN's Vigilante 400 CL54 design.

Vessels in the class have a displacement of about 500 tonnes, a length of 54.2 m, a beam of 8 m, a top speed of 21 kt, a range of 2,500 n miles at a cruising speed of 15 kt, an endurance of 10 days, and a complement of 35.

The vessels currently in service in Brazil have two MTU Friedrichshafen 16V 4000 M90 diesel engines coupled to controllable pitch propellers; Ares Aerospacial e Defesa electro-optical sensors; IPqM's TTI 2900 tactical control system; and the Northrop Grumman Sperry Marine VisionMaster FT 250 integrated bridge system, which includes X-band and Y-band navigation radars.

They can carry rigid hull inflatable boats (RHIBs) and are armed with an Allied Ordnance of Singapore L70 NADM 40 mm gun and two 20 mm Oerlikon GAM-B01 guns.